London hammer attack verdict could make legal history in the UK

The judge in the case indicated that he may impose a 'whole life order' on Philip Spence, putting him in a small group alongside some of Britain's most infamous killers, such as Rosemary West and Ian Brady.

Philip Spence, left, and Neofitos ‘Thomas’ Efremi in court. The judge is considering a ‘full-life term’ for Spence for his attack on three Emirati sisters. Priscilla Coleman / MB Media for The NationalShow less

LONDON // Experts believe the case of Philip Spence, whose senseless and brutal hammer attack on three Emirati sisters shocked Britons and Emiratis alike, will make legal history if the judge carries out his threat to sentence him to a “full life term” in prison.

Depending on the seriousness of the offence, sentencing guidelines for England and Wales set down three levels of punishment for attempted murder, with a range of possible sentences from six years to 35.

Spence’s crime, aggravated in the eyes of the law by the premeditated possession and use of a weapon; the serious and long-term physical and psychological harm caused to not one but three victims; his not-guilty plea; and the absence of any mitigation, would normally almost certainly be treated as a Level 1 offence, for which the punishment can range from 27 years to 35.

Although only murder comes with a mandatory life sentence, where there is an issue of public protection in a case of attempted murder a judge is also free to impose a discretionary life sentence. This alone, however, would be highly unlikely to mean life. A life sentence must be passed with a tariff, stipulating the minimum time that must be served, and typically this would be about half the given sentence.

But on Tuesday at the Old Bailey, Judge Anthony Leonard, QC, told Spence: “The sentence I will have to consider is a full life term.”

When a life sentence is passed with a “whole life order”, the offender will spend the rest of his or her life in prison, with no chance of release. According to guidelines set down by the Sentencing Council, an independent body of the UK Ministry of Justice, such an order is made only in cases where “the requirements of retribution and deterrence can be satisfied only by prisoners remaining in prison for the rest of their lives”.

Oliver Weetch, an experienced criminal barrister with the One Inner Temple Lane chambers who specialises in defending defendants accused of violent crimes, said the judge’s remarks had sent ripples through legal circles.

“He is bound to be thinking of a discretionary life sentence, that’s practically inevitable, given the severity of the case,” Mr Weetch said.

“But while there is no bar to giving a whole life order for attempted murder, I am not aware of an example of it and this would potentially be breaching new ground.

“What are you going to advise your next attempted-murder client? This would raise the stakes. As bad as this case was, sadly one can think of worse examples, of murder cases that haven’t been visited by whole life orders.”

Nevertheless it would, he said, “be surprising if the judge hadn’t given this serious consideration before he made a comment like that. In a case of this magnitude, with so much press interest, he would be unlikely to say something like that if he didn’t know it could be potentially imposed”.

If handed a whole life order, Spence would find himself in the company of a notorious group of only 51 prisoners currently certain to end their days behind bars in British prisons.

They include infamous killers such as Ian Brady, jailed in 1966 for his part in the killings of five children; Dennis Nilsen, a former policeman who between 1978 and 1982 killed and dismembered at least a dozen young men; and Rosemary West, jailed in 1995 for the murder of 10 girls and women.

The most recent prisoner sentenced with a whole life order was Michael Adebolajo, the Islamic extremist jailed in February for his part in the murder of Lee Rigby, an off-duty soldier who was brutally stabbed and hacked to death near an army barracks in south London.